During my early stages of my credit rebuilding process a signed up for a lot of credit building services such as Self, Grow Credit and Kikoff.
I think I'm pass the point of continuing use them after my current obligations up. However, while I was checking to see how long I have left on my Kikoff until it's close I came across a new product which seem very similar to Self Credit Card expect their are rewards.....the Kikoff Credit+ Cash Card.
I figured this would be worth sharing.
Only reports to 2 CRA's.
Down to the fine print:
"Kikoff offers 2 products, both products report to the major credit bureaus and are offered as 1-year plans:
- Kikoff Credit Account - this is our standard product for all new Kikoff customers. This account builds monthly payment history and helps reduce your credit utilization. The Credit Account gets reported to Equifax and Experian (No TU?) every month and costs $5/month.
- Kikoff Credit Builder Loan - this is an optional add-on for customers that want to build even more credit. This is a 1-year savings plan for $10/month. You’ll be able to add this product after your first payment with the Kikoff Credit Account.
@FireMedic1 I found this. However, after reading over the website I do see conflicting information... 🤷🏽♂️
Good luck on your journey building your credit.
I did the full selection of Kikoff products (KikOff Credit & Credit Builder); but I ultimately cancelled both products.
The Kikoff "Cash Card" is early-access to the Credit Builder Loan balance (i.e. the amount paid-in).
I believe that is similar to Self, etc.
My issue with Kikoff was that they didn't actually report to all 3 bureaus. Instead, each product reports to a different 1 or 2 bureaus.
When Kikoff is pressed on it, they claim they guarantee to report to "at least one..." and even that wasn't consistently reported.
For example: my CR showed multiple months missing from Kikoff reporting anything at all (so it would leave some months with "no data" reported, e.g. ✓ ✓ • ✓ • • ✓ • ).
That was the issue that put me over the edge to cancel (same with CreditStrong). I was effectively paying to have payments reported, which weren't even being reported.
To be fair, when I first started with Kikoff, it was useful to have at least something reported as active, and reporting on-time payments, etc.
Also, to their credit (no pun intended), Kikoff was fairly seamless/easy to cancel (CreditStrong was a bit more of a pain).
So, I am sure Kikoff has use, but (1) I just wish they reported to all 3 credit bureaus + and (2) I wish they reported consistently, rather than sporadically.
That remains the issue I've found with most "Credit Builder" services like that; the entire point is to have payments reported, but they often neglect to do that, sometimes for several months at a time.
I'm sure it would help someone, and I hope it does; but I was left with mixed feelings about Kikoff overall.
I attached the screenshot from my Kikoff app, showing it mentions being early access to the Credit Builder Loan Balance (the paid in/saved amount).
